Boats and Birds
by Sweetbubba
Summary: Everyone makes mistakes, a lesson Ariel has yet to learn. When she finds herself heartbroken, lost, and alone, a chance meeting leaves her face-to-face with Jim Hawkins and an offer she can't refuse. But is escaping really all that great if you leave your heart behind? What good is it being free if you still feel chained, and how can you forget what you can't forgive?
1. What Fell From the Sky

**Author's Note: **Hi everyone! I'm so glad I finally got to this, I've been wanting to write this for a while now. This is a crossover, so please keep in mind that I altered the stories a bit. Ariel didn't give Ursula her voice, and she wasn't given three days to get Eric to kiss her, Ursula let her keep her voice and her soul but she had told her that she could never be a mermaid again, forever human. Ariel did agree to it even though she knew that her father would be furious, and Vanessa is Eric's secret lover that Eric only recently decided to tell everyone about, a normal girl, not Ursula in disguise. Also, during the time the star turned into a blackhole is altered as well.

Please bare with me! I just had to do this, on account of my love for them. :)

- _nolovelydreamers; Anita_

* * *

The explosion was massive, pulsating through each and every soul that stood on the ship; no one could make anything of the situation as an eerie light blinded them and members of the 'RLS: Legacy' were thrown out of the gravitational shield surrounding their beloved ship.

Mr. Silver was the first to think but solely on instinct, catching Jim before he had the chance to be blown away and gripping onto the lifeline pole with all of the strength he had left, which wasn't much, he was just an old cyborg after all.

Captain Amelia stood tall, hands folded behind her back and gaze straight forward as they were blasted out of the black hole, although she looked unmovable, it was plain as day that fear was inevitable in her eyes. Never in her life had she believed in anything to do with the sorts of a god, but in the long moment of ear-piercing madness she prayed for the safety of the crew she never wanted.

The ship launched off through the stars, bright flames lit off its solar sails in such a beautiful way, that other crafts from miles away could mistake it for any other burning star itself.

Not seconds after, they began falling without restraint, not a sound of panic or any distraught calls. All that was heard and said was blocked out from the screech the black hole had left ringing in their ears.

Everyone lost hope.

**_-meanwhile-_**

Ariel was quiet, awe-struck and baffled at the sight before her. Eric, her Eric whom she risked her family for, was standing there with the most vibrant of smiles next to a beautiful woman that held a decorative shell necklace in her palm, twirling it as it hung from her neck.

What did she make of this? She couldn't understand what was happening, but her chest was aching and she was losing all air in her lungs; she pictured Ursula turning her human while still underwater, the way she strived to breathe and struggled to the surface. Except this time she felt as though she'd never get the chance to breathe again, like she was drowning and she had no choice.

She'd given up everything for him; her home, her friends, her sisters, her _father. _She could never go home, she knew, she made a mistake and there was no way she could change that now. All for this.

The pain thickened in her chest, making it even harder to get rid of even with the words of comfort she told herself. Forcing her eyes away from them and pressing her back up against the podium, one of her hands clenching and unclenching, her other placed on her heart.

_What did you expect? He finds a strange girl washed upon the shore and offers to take her in, a simple act of kindness. Did you ever think for a moment that he might have loved another? You stupid girl, always think before you act._

She began to cry, her lip quivering and head rising back in an attempt to stop the tears. She gave up the fight too soon, some sort of wall had broken in side of her and she couldn't help herself any longer. Her feet moved quicker than her brain thought, carrying her down the corridor to her left that lead to the large palace doors.

_Now look where you are, child. Hopeless, lost, and alone; that's how it'll be from now on, you'll never have anyone but yourself to blame._

She couldn't move any faster, she couldn't get away quick enough; Ariel desperately avoided anyone seeing her leave, trying her best to keep her sobs low even as she made it farther away from the castle and off to the deck where the ships were ported. Maybe some part of her secretly wished someone would notice her go, but she knew they wouldn't have stopped her, so it hardly mattered.

_So pathetic. _

Halting, Ariel finally felt far enough to let her emotions run as she dropped to the floor, pushing herself against a pole that held the dock up and wrapping her arms around her legs, closing her eyes and hiding her face in her knees.

She was lost in her clouded mind, losing her will to care about her surroundings or her situation; she only wanted to wallow in this newfound sorrow, but didn't get very far. A gust of wind nearly knocked her over, something short but strong that startled her enough to distract her from her thoughts.

She lifted her head curiously, eyeing the sky for the answer to that strange occurrence, and was greeted with what looked to be a ship, falling from nowhere she could recognize and heading straight toward her.

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**Author's Note: **Okay well, incase you can't understand it, the voice in Ariel's head was Ursula. She had planned to get rid of Ariel because she knew how much it would effect Triton, plus she's evil so she thought it'd be fun to kick her while she's down. Tell me what you think, review is love and love is all ya need, people! :D


	2. Difficult Rescue

**A/N: **Just got this chapter done! I hope you all love it, I tried but I don't think I captured the mood of this chapter very well. Let me know what you think, leave reviews and show me you care! It's kind of the only way I know to continue or not.

With love,

_Nolovelydreamers._

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Wood flew everywhere and brown smoke clouded the air, water rolling onto what was left of the dock and the 'RLS: Legacy' pushed into it. Ariel was lucky enough to dodge the flying ship, but when the dock had scattered she had to go far in order to avoid being hurt. She watched it now, hesitant and curious, laying in the sand just inches away from the disaster. Her throat burned from the smoke in her lungs and she began coughing uncontrollably, scrambling to her feet and scuttling to inspect the ship before Eric or any of the royal guards could arrive; she hoped that she got there in time to save those who were still alive, but also didn't want to see the Prince after what happened.

Her eyebrows rose as she got a closer look at the strange ship; the sails were crisped as if they were burnt, the front of it was clearly damaged but could be tended to, and sparks were flashing on deck. It wasn't anything like she saw before, of course she'd only been around long enough to see Eric's ship, but she was sure this one was somehow different.

_It did fall from the sky, after all. I wonder if…_

She thought to herself, making her way around the broken pieces of the dock carefully to get closer, looking skeptically at the side of the large ship for any way to get on the deck of it. Her eyes scanned each part of the one half of it, seeing the name of it engraved in one jagged board that stuck out from the rest of it.

_The RLS: Legacy. How odd._

Her attention was dragged away from it when she saw one of the poles from the dock leaning against the ship, crushing into the deck and tightly wedged there. She bit her lip, wondering for a second if it was safe, but deciding it wasn't really important and climbing onto it, then gently getting up to balance herself well enough to run all the way across it and to jump on the deck. It wasn't easy, her heart was pounding in her ears, but she took it as another one of her adventures and it relaxed her enough to get there.

Her feet dropped heavily onto the wooden floors and they creaked, causing her to catch her breath in worry that she'd fall through it.

_Focus._

She took a deep breath and tried harder to make her footsteps lighter, but ended up fumbling over her feet and falling to the floor with a thud. Pain shot through her and she whimpered, rubbing her thigh while sitting up.

"Who are you?!" a weak voice boomed and Ariel jumped, looking up to a boy with chestnut colored hair and an odd weapon in his hand. Her eyes widened.

"I-" she began, but cut herself off when she saw he'd been wounded. Half of his body was covered in blood, and his left eye was twitching. She stood, going over to him in a hurry and worriedly looking over his injury.

Jim flinched back when she got closer, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Hey-"

"You're hurt badly." She spoke over him, reaching out and grabbing his shirt. He jolted back more, his cheeks slightly flushed and his teeth gritted.

"Don't touch me!" He snapped, his voice high from nerves. It didn't take him long to remember what had happened though, and he lost interest in her trying to help, beginning to panic more than he did before. He held his head, eyes darting left and right as he started pacing.

"What-Silver, the captain, and the crew-"He ran off to the place he woke up, knowing that that was where he and Silver last stood. Ariel watched him in concern, he was becoming weaker, he was losing a lot of blood and yet he was moving so fast. Whether or not there were other survivors, he was alive and she swore to keep it that way.

"Silver! Silver, where are you?!" He called out, too tired to keep moving after no sign of the old cyborg, making him collapse to his knees. Ariel hurried to his side, kneeling down beside him and wrapping his arm around her neck, quickly trying to get him up and away to safety. He squirmed hopelessly in her hold.

"Stop moving! I'm trying to help you, you know?" She grumbled, frustrated with him. She knew how difficult it was getting on the ship the way she did, if it was the only way of getting off he wasn't going to make it any easier.

He stopped struggling and glared lazily at her, annoyed and drained. She sighed and frowned, dragging him to the pole and halting, looking at him seriously.

"I know you're really worried, and confused, but I can't help you unless you want to be helped!" She took a deep breath, glancing over the ship to look for the Prince's Guards, or someone- anyone that was coming to help. No one was there yet. She turned to him, biting her lip.

"This is the only way down, so, brace yourself."

She held onto him even tighter, accidently gripping his side and making him wince.

"Sorry!" She laughed nervously, moving her hand up higher and mounting the pole with some struggle. Jim lifted his head to look at her, the light from the setting sun circling around her and making her red hair lit like fire, a concentrated expression on her face.

_**She's beautiful.**_

He narrowed his eyes, beginning to drift off. He was just too exhausted to force himself to stay awake. She glanced down at him, knowing that she didn't have much time.

She skeptically began running down the pole, her feet aching and her heart pounding even louder than before. She gave a little cry of victory when she finally made it back to the ground, wanting so badly to jump for joy but stopping herself and forcing herself to run even further to get to the palace.

_If I keep going like this, my feet will bleed. _

She shook her head, trudging up the palace steps. Hoping that the boy she carried was alright, and that he wasn't the only one to survive.

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**A/N: **Again, just let me know what you think, people, that's all I need.

- _Nolovelydreamers_


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